Shadow Core - The Legacy (3 page)

The Discovery

Meanwhile, back at the Icarus...

Jude was still trying to analyse the sensor data when she noticed a change in the readings coming from the vicinity of the derelict.  

“Contact... no, wait, it's gone? I'm sure I saw something just now,” Jude said as she called up the last few seconds of sensor data on her display.

“What do we have?” Kade asked.

“Definite sensor contact, short lived but high power, from the area of the derelict,” Jude said as she examined the data closely. 

“Can you identify the signature?”

“It was an engine burn, I think...” Jude paused briefly as she considered the possibilities. “I'd guess it's some kind of small scale deployable.”

Concerned, Kade said, “Seems we were spotted. I guess our target isn’t as dead as it looks. Nick, slow our approach by 10%.”

“10%, aye,” Nick replied as he slowed down the Icarus approach speed. The braking engines flaring up momentarily in a light blue colour as the stress from the deceleration caused vibrations to propagate throughout the ship's structure.

The black sphere was shooting through space on pure inertia as its on-board systems determined that it was no longer on an intercept course, causing its main engine to flare up again.

“Contact... and... it's gone again,” Jude said as she noticed another sensor spike. “Definitely an engine burn, and it's on an intercept course. It's fast too. It will intercept us in less than five minutes.”

Nervous, Nick said, “We should probably leave now.”

“No!” Kade said defiantly. “Not yet. We're too close to turn back now, we're not leaving empty handed. Jude, go to active scan mode, they already know we're here so let's see exactly what’s out there.” 

“Switching to active scan mode, charging directional sensor array, 10 seconds to go,” Jude said as she started releasing all the safeties on the system.

Nick smiled faintly and said, “So much for stealth.”

“Can't be helped now,” Kade said, knowing she risked detection by the Solarian patrols.

“4... 3… 2… 1… We are now actively scanning the area,” Jude said and then paused as she examined the new sensor data. “This can't be right...”

“Talk to me!” Kade said as her anxiety increased.

“Debris, dust, and... nothing else?” Jude asked, seemingly confused by what she was seeing.

“What? So what's homing in on us?” Nick asked.

“Nothing! There's no echo returns... how is that possible?” Jude said rhetorically as she tried to make sense of what she was looking at.

“It's shielded? That's it, we're leaving!” Nick said, almost in a panic, as he started hurriedly plotting an escape route into the navigation system. The Icarus was still far enough outside the dead-zone to allow it to Burst out, but just barely.  

“Plot the course but don’t Burst yet,” Kade ordered. “Jude get some scans of the derelict. Hurry!”

“That's what I've been trying to do,” Jude said as she went over the sensor data again and again. “According to the sensors there’s no derelict. Nothing's there!”

“Now can we leave?” Asked an agitated Nick.

Kade all but shouted in sheer frustration, “Dammit! We were so close. Get us out of here!”  

Kade needed answers, and she was so close she could feel them, but the situation was degrading rapidly. She had already taken too many stupid risks on this mission, and she wasn't about to risk their lives.

The burst sequence was set, and the Icarus had begun diverting energy into the hyper-light drive as the navigation thrusters fired so as to align the ship to its destination, a nearby mining outpost. 

The atmosphere on the Icarus was tense, and Jude could do little but keep an eye on the sensors as the ship charged its Burst drive.

She was scared. They had been in some sticky situations before but never one where a ship the size of a dreadnought would fail to register on sensors.

She was also a little excited at the prospect of such stealth technology existing. What she wouldn’t give to take it apart and see what made it tick.  

The pitch black sphere was rapidly approaching the Icarus but was now on a collision course due to the ship's sudden attitude change. The probe's surface seemed to break apart as sections of the protective shell moved aside, revealing a multitude of hidden thrusters as it started taking evasive action.

The thrusters on the probe ignited, shifting its approach vector just enough to overshoot the Icarus, though not by much. And then its main engine fired once again, causing the probe to shed all of its forward momentum as the thrusters put the unit into a close orbit around the Icarus just as the ship was about to Burst away from the area.

The probe wasted no time, directing its main sensor array at the ship and starting an active scan. Causing the sensors on-board the Icarus to light up like a Christmas tree.

“Contact! Object has entered orbit... and... it's actively scanning us!” Jude said, feeling relieved.

“It's a probe?” Kade asked, pleasantly surprised.

“I'll take that over a missile, or torpedo, any day,” Nick said, also thankful for the revelation.

“Stop the Burst sequence,” Kade ordered. Her frustration now replaced by curiosity. “But slow our approach until we can figure out what we're dealing with.”

The probe was rapidly orbiting the Icarus, changing its orbital path ever so slightly with each loop around the ship while performing a very thorough scan. And Jude was happily returning the favour, as she tried to determine the probe's make and model. Which would hopefully give some clues about the owners.

“Well this is frustrating... I can't figure out what kind of probe it is. It doesn’t match anything on the open or the black market lists,” Jude said.

“Are we dealing with some new technology or," Kade paused briefly as she collected her thoughts. “...check against historical records, maybe it's just an older model.” 

“So then... are we no longer concerned about the ghost derelict?” Nick asked with an impatient tone as he couldn’t help but notice that Kade and Jude were now fully focused on the probe.

“It's probably shielded, it would make sense,” Kade said as she looked away from her console, towards the main screen displaying the image of the derelict.

“How, exactly, does that make sense? It's the size of a Carrier! Maybe even bigger. You can't shield something that big. Jude, help me out here,” Nick said, somewhat irritated.

“I’m not aware of any way of shielding such a large ship, but that doesn’t mean it can't be done,” Jude said without looking away from her screen, much to Nick's mounting frustration.

While Kade wasn't showing it, she was concerned, only a fool wouldn’t be. But at the moment there was nothing she could do about it. The probe, on the other hand, could offer some potential answers.  

“The derelict isn't going anywhere, and if we're gonna board it then I want to know as much as possible before hand. Better safe than sorry,” Kade said.

“Tell that to the crew of the destroyed ship,” Nick said as he gestured towards the debris near the derelict. “I don’t know about you but I'd rather not die yet. Maybe we should just leave.”

“No,” Kade said without hesitation. “We have come too far to leave empty handed. There are too many questions, and I will have some answers before we leave.”

Jude couldn't help but smile. She knew that when her sister got that determined look on her eyes there was no talking her out of anything.

“I'm finished searching the records. There's no match to either current or historical models.

Whoever makes this probe type doesn't sell them to any of the colonial markets we have access to. But maybe that's not too surprising,” Jude said.  

“Why not?” Kade asked.

“The precision and efficiency of the scan being directed at us is better than even the military probes currently used by the Union. It's intense enough to get detailed information from us, and yet, I doubt anyone else in the system can even tell it exists. It's also worth noting that my own scans can barely register the thing, it has some serious shielding. If this probe is any indication of the technology level of the target, then we're dealing with a power more advanced than the Sol Union,” Jude explained. 

“So...” Nick started saying, “we have a carrier sized ship our sensors can't detect. Ship debris, which tells us the thing probably isn’t quite dead. And a probe, that puts Sol technology to shame, giving us a rather uninvited physical,” he paused while looking at Kade. “What have you gotten us into this time?”

“We're about to find out,” Jude said while staring at her screen with a surprised look on her face. “We're getting a signal from the probe.” 

“What's it saying?” Kade asked excitedly. 

“'Requesting Identification, comply or depart', message repeats.” 

“OK, send it our credentials.” Kade smiled in anticipation.

“Sending... message changed, It now says 'Icarus ship registration is unknown, state your allegiance, comply or depart'.” 

“Our allegiance? Seriously?” Kade asked with a surprised look. “Who speaks like that anymore? We owe allegiance to no-one, so... Independent.” 

“Sending... it now says 'Sigma authorisation required, comply or depart'.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Nick asked with a puzzled expression.

Kade's expression, on the other hand, had changed from a calm concerned look to something bordering on ecstatic as she said, “Sigma-225-Deca-2, send it!”  

“What?” Nick asked with a confused expression as he looked at Kade.

“Sending... reply reads 'Authorisation granted, proceed to port 5',” Jude said as she finally looked away from her screen, in Kade's direction.

“You're kidding!” Nick blurted out, utterly confused. “What the hell just happened?”

“I finally found it!” Kade said joyfully as Jude and Nick looked at her, at a loss by this turn of events.

During this sequence of events, back in the 'derelict', Static and Drake were closely observing the inbound ship to see how it would react to the probe.  

“It slowed its approach, smart,” Static said.

“They saw the probe engine flare up. It's not packing standard issue sensors,” Drake added.

“Probe 15-Alpha has performed a course correction, new estimated intercept time is 2 minutes 20 seconds,” Nexus reported in her cold monotone voice. 

“No way it missed that one... so my friend, what will you do now?” Drake asked, as if talking to the sensor contact, while Static just observed.

“Sensor pulse detected, the target has switched to active scanning mode,” Nexus reported.

“Makes sense, I'd want to know what was homing in on me as well,” Static said as he looked at his console display which was showing a graphical analysis of the sensor pulse. And then smiled as he said, “It seems our guests also don’t want to attract any local attention. They’re putting just enough energy into the sensors to try and detect us, but not enough to immediately raise suspicions from the local patrols.”

“The safer course of action would be to just leave. For all they know we could have shot a missile at them... reckless fools,” Drake said with a disapproving look.

“I would go with 'Courageous'.” 

“Same difference.” 

“Detecting energy build-up on target hyper-light engine,” Nexus reported.  

“It's rabbiting?” Static asked. 

“Too late,” Drake said. “If that had been a missile we'd be seeing fireworks right about... now!”

“Probe 15-Alpha has intercepted the target,” Nexus reported. “Active scan in progress... receiving data stream... compiling detailed profile.”

As Drake looked at the screen showing the inbound ship, another screen appeared to its left, this one showing the raw data stream from the probe.  

Data was flashing by the new screen at a rate no human being could possibly understand, as the display showing the inbound ship added in layer upon layer of new information. Creating an ultra detailed picture of the target, down to the scratches and rust patches in the paintwork.

Drake had looked away from the display for a moment and noticed that Static was staring at the data stream with a worried expression, but to him, the data was streaming by so fast that it all just looked like a big blur.

“What's wrong?” Drake asked.

“Hmm?” Static said as he looked away from the data stream. “Oh! No... nothing. The stream just seems to be running slow.”

“You serious?” Drake asked in disbelief as he called up his personal user interface, and entered a few commands in order to check the status of the connection to the probe.  

“Well I’ll be... you're right,” Drake said. “The link is 22% slower than normal. Must be the distance. Nothing to worry about.”

The ship's general shape was no longer changing, though minor details were still being updated as the scan data poured in.

“Weird, it definitely looks like a Patriarch model, but these results don't seem right to me,” Static said.

Drake looked up at the screen, focusing on the inbound ship, and then waved his left hand over his user interface, causing it to vanish and be replaced with a 3D model of the vessel.

“It's unarmed... and has been heavily modified... but you're right, there's something off about it,” Drake said as he manipulated the model with a pensive look.  

“Nexus, start the authorisation sequence via the probe,” Static ordered. 

“Working,” Nexus replied.

“What for? It's not as if they're likely to pass authorisation. What are you up to?” Drake asked as he looked at Static.

“I’m curious,” Static said with a serious expression and a faint smile. “Not to mention bored,” he continued, his faint smile turning into a grin.

A few moments passed, as Drake carried on with his examination of the inbound ship, and then something unexpected happened...